1963 Print Eduardo Mark Colombian Convent Patio Monks - ORIGINAL COL1

024983_COL1_127

$21.98 USD$43.95 USD

This is an original watercolor print from Eduardo (Edward) Mark titled "Patio del Convento Fransiscano Bogota". In an open-air patio of the Fransiscan Convent of Bogota, two nuns and two monks converse before the water fountain.

Edward Walhouse Mark was born in Malaga, Spain in 1817 where his father was head of the English Consulary. Arriving in Bogota, Colombia in 1843, Edward Mark served for 10 years as vice-consul, general consul, and business officer to Great Britain. His techniques were influenced by the great school of English water coloring developed from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century. During these years of service, he created many sketches and watercolors, 152 of which are entitled "The Color of an Age" and are presented as fine prints. Originally acquired from a London auction by Rene Van Meerbeke, this collection of 152 watercolors was returned to Colombia, where it was originally created by Edward Walhouse Mark. Later, formally owned by the Colombian Bank of the Republic (Banco de la Republica), it was preserved as an important patriotic and historical record of pre-independence Colombia, later known as "New Granada." Items from this collection are held to be the most complete and faithful of any foreigner who worked in the 19th century, conveying the feeling and the atmosphere of an age that even history books and novels could not convey.The set consists of landscapes, urban visions, regional studies, anthropological observations, studies of nature, social behavior, and portraits. The anthology is important because it not only represents unique documentation of largely unknown aspects of the Nueva Granada (New Granada), but also because the artist visited, wandered, and lived in these locations as a diplomat of His Majesty of Britain. One of many Europeans who visited Colombia over a century ago, his purpose was to create an interest in the people of the Old World for this mysterious part of America. Coming to Nueva Granada as British Vice Consul, Edward Walhouse Mark had the opportunity to live during the turbulent, heroic independence and dissolution of Great Colombia and the formation of Nueva Granada as an autonomous entity. Significantly, Edward Mark felt odd about being a European and artist in Colombia. He worried that his impressions would appear exaggerated, so to discreetly mute and filter the colors, he used dark thin cardboard as his painting surface rather than a white background, which would have brightened the colors. Carefully considering Mark's watercolors, one finds suggestions of a greater interest in the social evolution of the country and discovers at the margins of the principle topics, informative elements that help one properly understand Grenadine life through this painter's climate of spirituality and his circumstance.

CONDITION

This 48+ year old Item is rated Very Fine ++. No aging. No creases. No tears. No water damage.